Justice Minister Jans visits Jew injured in attack in Zurich
Published: Tuesday, Apr 2nd 2024, 16:01
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Justice Minister Beat Jans has visited the orthodox Jew who was critically injured by a 15-year-old teenager in Zurich around a month ago. Jans said in a radio interview that he wanted the visit to show that such an act was unacceptable.
"I was incredibly happy to see him coming towards me on two legs," Jans reported on SRF Radio's "Tagesgespräch" program. The man is back on the road and on the best way to recovery. The Jew was the victim of a terrible act that must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. "As federal police authorities, we take this crime very seriously," said the Federal Councillor.
With his visit, he wanted to show the injured man "that we cannot accept what has happened", said Jans. And he wanted to promise the Jew support from the highest level - on the one hand, that racism and anti-Semitism would be combated at federal and cantonal level, and on the other, that Zurich would take a close look at the crime so that something like this would never happen again.
One reason for a closer look and increased exchange with the European authorities is that the 15-year-old perpetrator had clearly announced that he wanted to kill people of other religions. On the other hand, in January, the so-called Islamic State (IS) called for people of other faiths - Christians or Jews - to be killed. "It is possible that the incident in Zurich is the first implementation of this IS call in Europe," said Jans.
European cooperation
This is one of the reasons why the federal government is taking a very close look and the exchange with Europol, the European police force, is being intensified. The aim is to find out whether there is an international network.
On March 2, a 15-year-old with Tunisian roots seriously injured an orthodox Jew in the city of Zurich with a stabbing weapon. The teenager was arrested at the scene.
The number of incidents of anti-Semitism in Switzerland rose sharply after the Palestinian Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year and the Israeli army's counterattack in the Gaza Strip.
©Keystone/SDA
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